>> chris christie. what do you think? next president? could be. just saying. he has a sense of humor. always welcome. i'm don lemon, have a great week. good night. mayhem in the mideast. day six of the fighting. dozens are dead and there's no sign either side is backing down. history making in myanmar. president obama's six-hour visit marks the beginning of a new era. but not everyone is celebrating. and vice president biden tours the battered new jersey shore with a promise of unwavering federal support. good morning, welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> good morning, christine. good morning, everybody. i'm alina cho. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. thanks so much for being with us on this very, very early monday morning. >> it is early. but up first, the bombings and the bloodshed on the rise in

gaza. the last day has been the deadliest. 11 civilians, including four children, killed by an israeli missile that leveled a two-story home in gaza city. there's no letup in sight to the violence. representatives of israel and hamas are in egypt separately for peace talks. hamas issuing its demand for a cease-fire. they want israel to end a long-running military blockade of gaza immediately. the carnage from the last 24 hours, arwa damon is in gaza city. >> reporter: the large slab of concrete and mangled metal finally gives way. buried beneath it, another lifeless body. it's the second child we've seen. there was also a baby. others in the neighborhood say the blast killed all ten people who lived here. israel says it was targeting a man who heads a rocket launch unit. people we spoke with said they never heard of him.

this was a family home. >> people here are telling us that so far those who have been killed in this strike have been women and children. and they have not been able to find any survivors. just moments ago, from that back corner, they did pull out the body of a tiny child. an over here there's another frantic effort under way. tempers easily flare as frustration and anger mount. >> she's my uncle's wife, this young man shouts. rage coupled with sorrow etched across his face. this is where she lived. her elderly body finally dug up and carried away. there are no air raid sirens or bunkers in gaza. this strike came with no warning. the rescue efforts are not always so hopeless. not far from here, just the day before, 11-month-old amed and

his 4-year-old sister, both survived a multiple missile strike on their home. when the roof collapsed, it somehow provided a protective shelter over us. the children's mother says. for 45 minutes i thought i would suffocate. my leg was stuck. people could hear us screaming but couldn't do anything, she tells us. in between her cries, fears that her children were dead. this is what her building looks like now. the rubble that was cleared to save the family of ten, piled back into the lot that was their home. i will never forget what happened, she says. i will die imagining it. i can't believe it. i can't believe these are my children. i tell myself, they are not my children. i can't imagine how they

survived. i feel like i'm not myself. i can't believe that i am alive, talking to you, breathing. she tells us, they wants revenge. but more than that, she wants peace. she says, there is no good that comes with war. arwa damon joins us live from gaza city. what's the latest on the conflict this morning? >> well, our ben wedeman went down to the funeral for the members of that family you just saw in that story, and while he was at the funeral they heard two loud roars across the street, a third outgoing rocket they saw going overhead, and mourners were chanting revenge, revenge. so far, the israeli defense forces are saying that over 560 rockets have been fired from gaza into israel since the conflict began and the israelis have struck approximately 1,350 targets in gaza. so certainly at this point in time seems to be an escalating

conflict and finding any sort of cease-fire will have all sorts of diplomatic efforts under way. but so far none of them successful. >> cnn's anderson cooper is in the middle east to cover the escalating conflict between israel and hamas. and during a live report from gaza city last night, anderson got to experience firsthand what the palestinians have been coping with for the last six days. >> also two media centers. whoa. that was a rather large explosion. that occurred -- just look out here. i can't actually see where the impact of that was. it is actually set off a number of car alarms. but that was probably the largest explosion that we've heard just in the past -- really in the past hour. there have been a number of explosions in the past hour or two. but that one -- that one was pretty loud. >> all right, cnn's wolf blitzer is also covering the conflict from jerusalem. stay with cnn for the very

latest breaking news from the region. also this morning, president obama in the midst of an historic three-nation tour of southeast asia. overnight, he was in myanmar. the country formerly known as burma. this is the first time that a sitting u.s. president has visited that country. mr. obama met democracy activist turned lawmaker aung san suu kyi. and says the country's made great strides toward democracy in an incredibly short amount of time. >> i want to make a pledge to the people of this country, that i am confident we can keep. that is if we see continued progress towards reform our bilateral ties will grow stronger and we will do everything we can to help ensure success. >> he was on the ground there for six hours. suu kyi struck a note of caution, warning of the risks of a mirage of success in myanmar. cnn's dan lothian is traveling with the president. he will have a live report just ahead. vice president joe biden

gets a good look at what superstorm sandy left behind in seaside heights, new jersey. he met with first responders who lost their homes. he also checked out the battered coastline by helicopter yesterday. president obama vows to help the area make a complete recovery. >> but the president's made it clear that we're going to do everything we can to make sure that the corps is fully funded, that fema has what it needs, and that all the programs that exist under the auspices of the federal government are not only continue to exist, but are funded, so that we can make sure that -- that -- that this area of the country is fully, fully, fully restored. >> the damage on the ground is just shocking when you look at it from the air, alina. it is just staggering. you can see just how fierce the storm was. about 600 customers still have no electricity in new jersey over the weekend. three weeks now, after the storm

hit. >> i am alive. that's the message one of at least 11 men injured in that oil platform explosion in the gulf of mexico wanted to send his family. we're also getting a look at the explosion the very moment it happened. >> holy [ bleep ] look at that. something just blew up. >> yeah, it did. >> a tv crew was filming a sport fishing show off the coast of venus, louisiana, on friday when that explosion happened way in the distance there. divers scouring the sea floor found the body of one man who worked on the platform. another worker is still unaccounted for. four men suffered major burns, two others are in critical condition, another in serious condition. the cause of that explosion is still under investigation. now to the latest and former cia director david petraeus' sex scandal. mistress paula broadwell returning to her north carolina home. cameras were waiting as she and her husband pulled in yesterday. her husband scott told reporters he had no comment right now.

meanwhile after petraeus' testimony before congress, a big battle is brewing over u.n. ambassador susan rice's declassified talking points on the attack in benghazi. specifically why the role of terrorism wasn't reflected in them. democratic senator dianne feinstein, the chairwoman of the senate intelligence committee, says she'll investigate why the terrorist role wasn't included. still in an appearance on nbc's meet the press, feinstein said she was sure the white house didn't change the language in those talking points. >> with the allegation that the white house changed those talking points, that is false. there's only one thing that was changed. and i checked into this. i believe it to be absolute fact. and that was the word counsel was changed to mission. that's the only change that anyone in the white house made. and i have checked this out. >> republicans are accusing the obama administration of a cover-up and want ambassador rice to testify before congress. >> it's going to be one tough

confirmation hearing. all right coming up, president obama on his way to cambodia right now. after an historic stop in myanmar earlier today. so, did the president accomplish what he set out to do there? our dan lothian is traveling with the president. we will check in with him live next. it's swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth to add delicious flavor to your skillet dish in just one stir. mmm! [ female announcer ] cook, meet compliments. get recipes at flavorboost.com.

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to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. welcome back to "early start." it's 13 minutes after the hour. president obama making history in his first post-election trip overseas. he's the first sitting president ever to visit myanmar. the country formerly known as burma. overnight mr. obama met with pro-democracy activist aung san suu kyi. at the same lakeside villa where she spent 15 years under house arrest. the president also spoke at the university of yangon, citing the country's remarkab ablable jour toward democracy. cnn's dan lothian is traveling with the president. he is live in yangon, myanmar with more. dan, good morning.

it seemed in the president's speech thad he said myanmar is taking steps toward democracy. but still a long way to go. >> that's right. i mean, what you saw from the president was really a careful balance here, a balancing act. this was not a time for the president to essentially celebrate all that's right. although he did talk about some big steps that have been taken over the last two years. remember, this is a country that has been in the grip of military rule, but that has changed over the last two years. some political prisoners have been released. there've been parliamentary elections. so the president wanted to highlight some of what has changed. some of that progress that's taken place. but after meeting with aung san suu kyi at the home where she was held under house arrest for some 15 years, and then also after meeting with the newly elected prime minister, the president came here speaking to a large audience of students, and some government workers, and others from the community, and

he laid out what more needs to be done. >> the right of people to assemble together must now be fully respected. instead of being stifled, the veil of media censorship must continue to be lifted. and as you take these steps, you can draw on your progress. >> now, as you know, there's been a lot of criticism about whether the presidential visit was too much too soon. secretary clinton came here late last year. u.s. ambassador was reinstated here, and some felt that that was enough, because there's still a lot of major issues that need to be addressed here. but president obama saying that if you wait for perfect democracy before you act, it will take an awful long time. alina? >> the president, dan, is headed to cambodia, as we were saying. what's next for him in the next couple of days?

>> well, you know, this is sort of building on what the president has been talking about, this strategy over the last couple of years, and that's a rebalance, as ty call it, focus more on asia-pacific region. the president sees a lot of opportunities here in business, trade, providing jobs back at home. also, military to military with these countries. and so, it's an area of opportunity and growth not only for the united states, but also for this region, and we'll hear the president talk about that when he meets with other asian leaders from the region in cambodia tomorrow. >> dan, always great to see you. dan lothian traveling with the president. dan, thank you. senator john mccain says the u.s. must use its influence to try to bring an end to the violence along the border between israel and gaza, and he knows, john mccain says he knows just the man to do it. mccain says former president bill clinton should get

involved. when he was president, mr. clinton held negotiations at camp david between israel and the palestinian authority. here's what mccain had to say about it on cbs' "face the nation." >> try to find someone, even as high-ranking, frankly, as former president bill clinton. to go and be the negotiator. i know he'd hate me for saying that but we need a person of enormous prestige and influence to have these parties sit down together. >> all right. the latest recount in florida shows congressman allen west trailing his democratic challenger patrick murphy by nearly 2,000 votes. west, a tea party favorite, is trying to keep this seat representing florida's 18th congressional district. unofficial numbers posted on sunday evening on the florida secretary of state's website give murphy an edge, 166,257 to 164,353 for west. all right. 2016 is a long way away, but florida senator marco rubio sure

looked like a presidential candidate during a visit to iowa. rubio appeared saturday night at a big fund-raiser for iowa governor terry branstad. in his speech, rubio discussed the future of the republican party and issued a host -- and addressed a host of issues including tax reform, the national debt, energy and immigration policy. >> christine, you were in iowa giving a speech, as well, weren't you? did you run into each other? >> no, but they were all buzzing about how he was going to be there and democrats are saying look, here we go again. republicans are saying marco rubio. already in iowa they were talking about the precursor to 2016. >> would have been a good sighting for you. meanwhile how about this for a sighting? justin bieber took top honors sunday night at the american music awards. winning the artist of the year award, along with two other trophies. even brought his mom onstage to celebrate. gotta love someone who does that. nicki minaj won for favorite rap hip-hop album and favorite rap hip hot artist. taylor swift kept up her streak winning her fifth consecutive

award for favorite country startist. and you can definitely call carly rae jepsen new partist of the year. >> about 19 minutes past the hour this morning. we're getting an early read on your local news making national headlines. from the odessa american in texas where federal investigators say there's no sign of any mechanical malfunction in last week's deadly train wreck that killed four veterans on a float. the national transportation safety board says the alarm system, the gates were working properly when a train pulling a trailer full of -- a truck, rather, pulling a trailer full of veterans and their waves entered the crossing eight seconds after the lights and bells activated. the 84-car train rammed into the trailer at 62 miles an hour. investigators will be on the scene tomorrow crying to recreate the deadly collision. how about this? from the san francisco examiner, reporting on a movement to ban public nudity in the city by the bay. seems like a lot of men there are going bare these days and

the city's castro district and that has some locals very upset. the city's board of supervisors will meet tomorrow. if it passes the ban would find a first offender up to $100. second violation comes with a $200 fine. for a third offense it would be $500. and up to a year in jail. the measure being debated includes exceptions for women to take off their tops. >> think of the chilly temps. >> i can only imagine. for an expanded look at all of our top stories head to our blog cnn.com/earlystart. >> all right, you ready for it everybody? are you ready for it? black friday is almost here. the biggest shopping day of the year. bah, humbug. >> i know what you're saying. you say this every year. >> this is when i start to get real grumpy. but if some walmart workers have their way it's going to be one of the messiest, too. you a restaurant is hard,ink rg try running four. fortunately we've got ink.

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disrupt oil supplies in the region. light swede crude oil prices up about 1%. and walmart on the offensive against a workers walkout planned for black friday. walmart filed a complaint with the national labor relations board that says the union-backed our walmart group didn't file the right paperwork to picket during past demonstrations. our walmart says it has 1,000 protests planned across the country later this week. walmart plans to open stores for black friday at 8:00 p.m. on thanksgiving night. alina, all the retailers are calling it black friday creep. black friday is now black thursday and they're hoping that, i mean, maybe you have two cups of coffee after you have your turkey and you run out and spend money. >> forget there are people in line already in florida. they're having thanksgiving dinner online outside in tents. >> it's crazy. i think it's crazy. >> i actually think it's a little crazy, too. >> they want you to buy other stuff that they're going to make money on, you know. if you have to be a super human

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day six of the strikes, and still no letup in the violence. israel broadens its assault. gaza refusing to give in. plus a game-changer. israel's new missile defense system being put to the test.

we'll show it to you coming up. and sandy scams. just wait till you hear how some tow truck drivers are doing to victims of the superstorm. welcome back to "early start" i'm christine romans bright and early. >> that's right. good morning, everybody, i'm alina cho. it's 5:30 in the east. we begin with this. the bombs keep flying and the blood of civilians keeps spilling in the middle east. the conflict in gaza city escalating overnight. an israeli missile taking out a two-story home. 11 people were killed, including four children. the attacks continuing this morning. representatives of israel and hamas in egypt separately for cease-fire negotiations. hamas offering its demand for a truce insisting israel end its military blockade of gaza if it wants the bombing to stop. arwa damon joining us from gaza city this morning. meanwhile, arwa, israel saying that gaza needs to let up its violence first so neither side

appears to be giving in. what is the latest from the region? >> well optimism is certainly being maintained by both. neither saying that they do want to back down. you're speaking about the stalemate that was killed there during that funeral for the family. our ben wedeman who is at the funeral itself said that after they heard the third outgoing rocket, mourners were chanting for revenge and all the israeli defense forces are saying that 550 rockets have been fired from gaza into israel and that the israelis have struck approximately 1,360 targets in this area. one of the most densely populated areas in the world. we also saw a strike just a short while ago that seems to have been targeting one of the locations where the rockets were fired from. residents in the area telling cnn that the israeli strikes hit an open field. and to just give you an idea of the lay of the land here, while it is very densely populated

there are small, open areas in between some of these narrow alleyways. that is where many of the rocket launching units will fire from. and there's the retaliatory strikes from the israeli side. as is always the case, not just in this conflict but in all conflicts of this nature, it is civilians that are paying the price. >> and if those negotiations continue, obviously, so do the rockets and the missiles, as you point out. i know you have covered this region for quite some time. i'm just curious to know, from your standpoint, how does this differ right now in terms of mood and atmosphere from your earlier trips? >> it differs first and foremost on the one level, the dynamics of the middle east have changed so drastically the last two years since the arab string began. the last time that the israeli defense forces launched a war in gaza was back in 2008-2009.

and back then, they could staunchly rely on mubarak's egypt as an ally. right now, of course, egypt is being led by a muslim brotherhood government, very, very close to hamas itself. that has changed the dynamics here. but what always stays the same is the sense amongst the people in gaza that this is somehow their fate. this is the cycle of violence they constantly have to deal with for decades. many of them although they are incredibly enraged at the ongoing strikes by israelis, they're enraged by the way they feel they're constantly being treated, being humiliated, being forced to live in these conditions, there's still this overwhelming desire to somehow see an end to it all. so many people we were talking to saying in the long-term all they really want to see is peace. what remains ever elusive when it comes to ongoing conflicts between the palestinians and israelis. >> hope that they can reach a cease-fire in the coming days. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon, as you know, arwa,

among those headed to the region right now. arwa damon live by phone from gaza city. thank you. christine? >> alina, as the fighting intensifies, israel has a new line of defense, the iron dome system. one of the men in charge of it says the missile defense technology has picked off hundreds of rockets coming from gaza, but he also says it has its flaws. here's fred. >> reporter: possibly saves lives on the ground. this video shows an iron dome missile intercepting a rocket fired from gaza at tel aviv on sunday. the defense system had just been installed at israel's largest city a few hours earlier. several days into the conflict it's already clear the iron dome is having a big impact picking off hundreds of rockets. i got a tour of the israel aircraft industry's plant that assembled the air defense system.

the doctor is one of those in charge. one key element is an advanced radar. >> they locate, track and intercept and guide the intercepting missiles within several seconds, few seconds within the launching time. >> reporter: it's extremely hard to shoot down short distans rockets like the ones coming out of gas today in part because they're not in the air long enough for older radar systems to lock onto them. >> the target is moving extremely fast. when you want to intercept it you have to move faster with more agility, with more maneuvering power relative to your target. >> reporter: the iron dome was only put into service in 2011. with breakthroughs in technology it can detect and shoot down multiple targets in midair. but it isn't a perfect solution. this is the aftermath of a rocket strike in the town of ashkelon. one of the rockets that hit

ashkelon came here and hit this car port and did substantial damage to the car, as well. the iron dome system has been billed as a game changer in this conflict. but as hits like this one show, it cannot intercept all the rockets that are coming at israel from gaza. still israel's military says it's very happy with the performance of the interceptor system. >> usually down. usually these rockets are the ones who are launched from the terrorist factions. towards the biggest cities where you have more people living. we usually down them but it's not a 100% solution unfortunately. >> reporter: and so the engineers at the assembly plant are working extra hours to assemble more iron dome batteries for immediate deployment. cnn, ashkelon, israel. so what does this cost? let me dig into the costs of the system. it costs $62,000 every time a missile is fired from the iron dome. in 2011 the israeli military said the system had a 70% success rate. and the united states has allocated about $275 million for

israel's iron dome system. president obama addressing the people of myanmar during his historic visit there. in a speech at the university of yangon, he praised the country for its remarkable journey toward democracy. and said further reforms are needed. he's the first sitting u.s. president to ever visit the country. he also met with activist aung san suu kyi at the home where for 15 years she was a political prisoner. here in the u.s., more than 3,000 people rallying outside the white house in opposition to proposed keystone xl pipeline. that pipeline would help deliver oil from canada's tar sands down to the gulf of mexico. last year the obama administration delayed a decision on the controversial project. delayed it until after the election. a family affair in texas, where a father and his two adult children are accused in a string of bank robberies. authorities say ronald scott and his 20-year-old son hayden robbed the banks while they're daughter, 18-year-old abby,

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the place where it's going to be. you can see the dignitaries arriving there to greet the president as air force one lands in cambodia. this is the next stop, of course, after myanmar for the president and his team this morning. again these are live pictures of air force one. air force one on the tarmac there in cambodia. all right in other news. new york's hugh l. carey tunnel will be open for business this morning three weeks after getting flooded out by the storm surge caused by hurricane sandy. both tubes of what used to be called the brooklyn battery tunnel will open at 6:00 a.m. it's almost impossible to believe. look at those pictures and you see how flooded this tunnel was, and that it can be open now. they've been pumping it dry for days. on an average work day this tunnel carries about 50,000 cars and certainly a lot of people going between lower manhattan and brooklyn are going to be happy to be able to use it again. >> that's 50,000 happy commuters. been hard enough for many in new york and new jersey to deal with

the damage caused by hurricane sandy. the storm destroyed homes, took out power, and forced people to wait on line for hours just to get some gas. now, detectives are warning those same hurricane victims to be on the lookout for scammers with tow trucks. our susan candiotti has more. >> reporter: tow trucks are in huge demand after sandy. and police are keeping an eye on them. >> still cars sitting out here. they got to go. >> reporter: since the storm, they've been clearing the way for emergency vehicles, getting rid of destroyed cars, hauling away boats swept into the middle of the street. but as police learned in katrina, disasters are prime territory for shady operators to steal cars. targeting older models that can be sold at junk yards without paperwork. 500 bucks a pop. >> actually, there's no writing on the truck. so i'm even more curious about this guy. >> reporter: we shadowed the new york police auto crime unit,

spot-checking towers, making sure they're toeing the line. >> a truck that isn't marked, might not have the proper equipment on the truck, not proper documents, unlicensed drivers, not paperwork. >> reporter: at night it's often easier to get away with illegal tows. >> it's pitch black out here. you can't see anything. it's very dark. they can sneak in and out of neighborhoods. grab cars and leave. >> reporter: along the way we stop at this lot where a lot of tow trucks have dropped off their vehicles. you see the markings here? has to do with insurance company, and you can see the condensation that's still inside this car. over here, this suv, is filled with muck from the ocean. what a mess inside that engine. and this car still has water in the headlights. let's give eight a shake so you can see it. most are totalled. some will be auctioned for parts. but others will be sold, often without the buyer knowing it was in a flood. and that can be a safety hazard. >> anything from electrical problems to not running

correctly, all your lights. just everything. not performing. there's a reason why the insurance company totalled it out and didn't fix it. it's not worth fixing. >> reporter: for now police are monitoring the lot to make sure cars don't disappear without permission. in seaside heights, new jersey, authorities seized records of one towing company. prosecutors are investigating whether the business improperly hauled away storm damaged boats and cars and overcharged owners to get them back. after several attempts, we were unable to reach the company for comment. >> yeah, a van or an suv. want to see -- >> reporter: no trouble on this patrol. new york police hope their efforts keep illegal tow trucks off the road. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. >> and to find out thank you help the victims of superstorm sandy, head to our website,

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it's about 50 minutes after the hour. let's get you up to date on the top stories. 11 civilians are dead in gaza city, killed by an israeli air strike. four of the dead are children. right now representatives of israel and hamas are in egypt for cease-fire talks. hamas demanding an end to israel's military blockade in gaza in order to end the violence. israelis insisting they'll finish the job with a ground offensive if air strikes don't end the conflicts. president obama praising myanmar's rapid political reforms during his historic visit there. the first sitting u.s. president to travel to that country. mr. obama also met with fellow nobel peace prize winner aung san suu kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest in myanmar. she expressed concern about a, quote, mirage of success in myanmar's reforms. >> and the american music award goes to -- justin bieber!

>> that's cool. don't stop believing. justin bieber sweeps the american music awards winning all three categories in which he was nominated including the biggest award of the night, artist of the year. and his mom was on stage. other big winners, taylor swift, carly rae jepsen and mickey minaj. probably one of the oddest performances ever. i give you m.c. hammer gangnam style. ♪ >> that is cool. >> i like it. >> i do, too. >> you know, i was at the madonna concert earlier last week, actually, and he flew in from frankfurt to perform with

madonna. madonna is a huge fan. >> excellent, all right. >> worldwide sensation. and how about this? mysterious objects seen buzzing around the skies above denver have some people talking ufo. that's right. local tv station says a man gave him that home video that he claims shows unidentified flying objects zigzagging over the mile-high city. it is unidentified and it is a flying object, so that's accurate. cameraman who wishes to remain anonymous says the ufos have been appearing several times a week, usually between noon and 1:00 p.m. so the station set up their own camera at that time. and guess what? they got a similar result. >> hmm. it's a mystery. >> a mystery or someone shooting traps in the backyard. who knows. meteorologist rob marciano joins us. what's your guess? >> i don't know. can a camera actually smoke marijuana. i know it's legal out there now. that may cause funky things to happen. further scientific investigation

required. good morning, girls. >> good morning. >> looking at some showers across parts of the midsection of the country. also some dense fog in detroit, back through much of the lower end, and chicago and walk. temperatures, soupy so some slow travel there. these showers will be fairly light right now. big storms lining out west. portland to seattle. just a mess this morning. flood watches are out. wind with this also, winds nearly 100 miles an hour along the oregon coastline there. 89 mile an hour wind gusts and garibaldi 79 miles an hour wind gusts. snowe levels will be rising. rainier will get a ton of it, but most of it above the mountain passes. mostly in the form of rain and flood watches out, three, four, five, six, seven or eight inches across parts of the coast range possible here. it's going to be a three-day event coming at you. so intense situation there. so cal looking good. much of the midsection of the country fairly dry. the northeast dry, as well.

49 degrees expected in new york city for a high temperature. 54 degrees in d.c. and 66 degrees, in atlanta. i think maybe more disturbing we're seeing m.c. hammer do that gangnam style. but the parachute pants are back. >> i'd love to see a picture of you in your parachute pants. >> you know you wore them, rob. >> absolutely. >> oh, yeah. >> did i see you in a formula one car recently? >> yeah, yeah. austin had the first formula one race in like five years and i got to take a test ride around that track a couple weeks ago. >> looking right at home. >> all right, rob, thanks so much. >> first, president obama may not be impressed but she is. the story behind this white house photo, and that face. [ lane ] your anti-wrinkle cream is gone... but what about your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair visibly reduces fine lines and wrinkles in just one week.

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welcome back at 58 minutes after the hour. here with alina cho. take a look at this top cnn trends on the web this morning. a white house photo of president obama, and teen usa gymnast mikayla maroney have gone viral. clearly they are both not impressed. she splashed her not impressed face on the podium at the london olympics after winning a silver. that became a worldwide sensation that reached all the way to the white house. maroney says the new photo was the president's idea. >> a right. we'll take that at face value. new jersey governor chris christie providing some comic relief from superstorm sandy on "saturday night live" have a look. >> is there anything while you're here you'd like to say to the people of new jersey? >> i'd like to thank some people.

i'd like to thank the red cross and first responders. i'd love to give a special thanks to my lovely wife who put up with a husband who has smelled like a wet fleece for the past three weeks. >> you have been wearing that fleece a lot. >> yeah, it's basically fused to my skin at this point. >> i have seen you wearing suits. >> i wear them over the fleece. i'm going to die in this fleece. but that's okay. it's a good fleece. >> it is a good fleece. >> stop saying things i've already said. >> all right, okay! >> i also would like to not thank the following. i do not thank any of the stupid mayors who ignored mie vac use orders. you're idiots! and when you ignore me, it makes you look like a real seth myers. >> oh, come on! >> i'm speaking here. >> all right. >> i also do not want to thank the reporters that put themselves in danger, you know, by walking into the middle of the hurricane with their cameras. we don't need you to tell us there's a hurricane. we have windows!

>> he's funny. >> he is. >> all right. "early start" continues right now. mayhem in the mideast. day six of the fighting. dozens are dead, and no sign either side is backing down. president obama's six-hour visit marks the beginning of a new era. but not everyone celebrates. and securing the skies. meet the men making sure your plane gets where it needs to go this thanksgiving week. i'm christine romans in for john berman. >> good morning, i'm alina cho. zoraida sambolin has the day off. up first the deadliest day of violence yet in gaza. an israeli missile killing 11 civilians, four of them children. the conflict between hamas and

israel threatening to escalate out of control. representatives of the two sides are in egypt for cease-fire talks. but they are not talking directly to each other. hamas making a public demand for a truce. fredrick plight begin live from israel. good morning, israel doesn't seem to be giving in on its side either saying that gaza needs to stop the attacks first as a negotiating starting point. what's the latest? >> certainly the attacks don't seem to be stopping. i'm quite close to the gaza stripe and just in the past couple of hours we've had two rocket alarms go off in the city. that is a signal for us to then take cover. if you're not in the vicinity of any buildings to hit the deck.

also in other israeli towns throughout the area, there have been some rockets picked off by missile interceptor systems. so it does not look as though the violence is abating. one thing i will say, throughout the night it seems as though it was a little more quiet than in the past nights. however this morning there have been more rocket attacks. that is something that continues to take its toll on israeli civilians, as well. one of the things the israelis have said they're not going to stop this campaign until they've stopped rockets being launched from gaza onto israeli territory. alina? >> fredrick, and on the negotiating front, as we've been reporting hamas and israel are meeting separately with egyptian officials, u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon is headed to the region, as well. at this point, from where you sit, what do you think the chances are of a cease-fire? >> well that's really anybody's guess at this point in time.

the israeli government has not commented on whether it's involved in any negotiations and whether or not those negotiations would be moving forward. they're taking a very strong stance and saying that they are continuing to continue this military operation until they've shut down those rockets being launched from gaza. they're also saying that they're even willing to expand those operations if they feel that needs to be the case. one of the things that's been looming over the past couple of days, is an acceleration of the army campaign going on. that could involve a ground offensive in gaza. from having been in that area this whole weekend there is a massive military buildup going on around the borders with gaza with tens of thousands of troops coming in there, tanks, armored personnel carriers. everything that you would need for such defenses. that's still on the table. public opinion here in israel is still very much in favor of a military campaign. however both sides are saying quite publicly that they also want the violence to end on both sides, as fast as possible. certainly people want this to end. however it's not clear whether

or not the political will is there at this point in time just yet alina. >> hmm. well, with tens of thousands of israeli troops on reserve and being called up, i think a ground offensive is something that nobody wants to see. fredrick live for us in israel, thank you. cnn's anderson cooper experiencing firsthand what the palestinians have been coping with for the last six days. frightening moments last night during this live report. >> also two media centers. whoa. that was a rather large explosion. that occurred -- just look out here. i can't actually see where the impact of that was. it is actually set off a number of car alarms. but that was probably the largest explosion that we've heard just in the past -- really in the past hour. there have been a number of explosions in the past hour or two. but that one -- that one was pretty loud. >> anderson joins us live from

gaza city in the next hour. cnn's wolf blitzer is also covering the israel/hamas conflict from jerusalem. stay with cnn throughout the day for the very latest breaking news from the region. vice president joe biden getting a firsthand look at what superstorm sandy left behind, in seaside heights, new jersey. he met with first responders who lost their homes and he also checked out the battered coastline by helicopter yesterday. biden, like president obama, vowed to help the area make a complete recovery. >> but the president's made it clear that we're going to do everything we can to make sure that the corps is fully funded, that fema has what it needs, and that all the programs that exist under the auspices of the federal government are not only continue to exist, but are funded, so that we can make sure that -- that -- that this area of the country is fully, fully, fully restored.

>> it's going to take some time. about 600 customers still have no power in new jersey over the weekend. three weeks after the storm hit. the latest now in former cia director david petraeus' sex scandal. paula broadwell returning to her north carolina home. cameras were waiting as she and her husband pulled in yesterday. her husband scott told reporters he had no comment right now. meanwhile after petraeus' testimony before congress, a big battle is brewing over u.n. ambassador susan rice's declassified talking points on the attack in benghazi. specifically why the role of terrorism wasn't reflected in those talking points. democratic senator dianne feinstein, the chairwoman of the senate intelligence committee, says she'll investigate why the terrorist role wasn't included. still in an appearance on nbc's meet the press, feinstein said she was sure the white house didn't change the language in those talking points. >> with the allegation that the white house changed those talking points, that is false. there's only one thing that was

changed. and i checked into this. i believe it to be absolute fact. and that was the word consulate was changed to mission. that's the only change that anyone in the white house made. and i have checked this out. >> republicans are accusing the obama administration of a cover-up and want ambassador rice to testify before congress. i am alive. that's the very simple message one of at least 11 men injured in that oil platform explosion in the gulf of mexico wanted to send his family. we're also seeing the moment that explosion happened. >> holy [ bleep ] look at that! something just blew up. >> yeah, it did. >> tv crew was filming a sport fishing show off the coast of venice, louisiana, friday when that explosion happened way in the distance. divers scouring the sea floor found the body of one man who worked on the platform. another worker still unaccounted

for. four men suffered major burns. two others are in critical condition and another is in serious condition. the cause of the blast is still under investigation. six days of fighting, two men is and one deadly showdown. is either side willing to listen to the other? up next the negotiations happening right now in cairo. negotiations to end the fighting between israel and hamas. obviou. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8. [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. ♪ ♪ we're lucky, it's not every day you find a companion

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. eleven minutes past the hour. president obama just now arriving in cambodia. the first sitting u.s. president to travel there. he is also the first to vis the myanmar, where he was overnight. the president promising american support for myanmar as the once

repressive regime travels the road slowly to democracy. mr. obama met with aung san suu kyi. once a political prisoner in myanmar, now a member of parliament and later spoke at the university of yangon. cnn's jessica yellen traveling with the president in myanmar, the country previously called burma. jessica, how was the president's speech received there? >> hey, christine. the president and the white house say the president was deeply moved, first of all, by the several thousand people who gathered along the streets here to greet him on his arrival for what you described as an historic first trip by a sitting president. and the reception here was, as you might expect, a very warm one. about 1500 people in this auditorium for the people who did turn up to see him. they were very smiling and pleased to see him. the president's message to this crowd and the leaders was to continue their move toward liberalization, an open society, toward democracy here in

myanmar. he used his own history as an example, he said that sometimes democracy takes time, and nations have to evolve to achieve full freedom. listen to what some of the president said. >> we amended our constitution to extend the democratic principles that we hold dear. and i stand before you as president of the most powerful nation on earth, but, recognizing that once the color of my skin would have denied me the right to vote. and so that should give you some sense that, if our country can transcend its differences, then yours can, too. every human being within these borders -- >> a very personal note from the president on a trip that's been marked by several. he has noticed a number of times

that this is also the last time he will be traveling overseas with secretary of state hillary clinton in an official capacity, as everybody knows, she is not going to stay on as secretary of state. she said that she needs some time off, and so he thanked her for some of the work she's done and they've been flying together on air force one for some of his trips. and this is part of what they are calling an asia pivot, the president's effort to refocus and rebalance the u.s. relationship and alliances in this region, in part to offset the growing influence of china. christine? >> re-engaging in the region just as china's announcing its new leadership. what does the president have planned for the rest of the day, jessica? >> so, as you pointed out, he is already in cambodia and he'll be attending two summits there. two east asia summits. so tonight, and this afternoon, he'll be attending a meeting with the prime minister of cambodia, and then a summit

dinner there. and then tomorrow he has a full day of meetings for both the asean summit and another east asia summit. lots of alliances, and trade partnerships that they're working out. trying to develop especially a specific trade alliance. i should also point out, christine, that secretary clinton and the president's top national security adviser, we're told, are in constant contact with some of the u.s. allies working on the conflict in gaza and israel to try to deescalate those tensions, briefing the president on that as well during this trip. >> all right, jessica yellin, thanks. six days of israeli air strikes and hamas rocket attacks. 30,000 israeli troops perched along the gaza border as we speak. the situation could tip at any moment as much of the world watches and hopes that a cease-fire can be reached. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon is visiting the region today. he's one of a number of diplomats scrambling to broker a

cease-fire. hamas is demanding an end to israel's blockade on gaza. and it wants raids in the territory to end permanently. israel says it's not letting up until the rocket attacks from hamas stop. want to bring in jane harmon, the former ranking democrat on the house intelligence committee, and she's the current director of the woodrow wilson center in washington. she joins us live from cairo. representative harmon, thank you so much for joining us. israel and hamas, as you know, are meeting separately with egyptian officials. but i think it's important to point out that egypt is not a neutral negotiating partner in this. they have long been an ally of hamas. i ask you, during your trip there, are you hopeful that you can reach any sort of agreement to a cease-fire? >> well, actually, i am. i mean i'm not the one negotiating it, but this is my third visit to this marvelous country, the largest in the arab world, in a year. and at this time, even with gaza

going on, there is reason for optimism about the egyptian economy, and future of an imf loan, and a constitution about to be drafted, hopefully that will include full, equal rights for women. but, gaza is on the minds of everybody here, and i have heard in the last hour or so, there is reason for optimism that a cease-fire could be announced as early as this afternoon and the role egyptians have played in helping broker that is viewed as very positive. they could only do that if they had a special relationship both with hamas, and with israel. >> but i have to ask you -- >> i have to disagree with you that egypt is only operating on behalf of hamas. >> as you say, you're hopeful, and as you say, which is the first time we're hearing this, that you believe a cease-fire could be reached by this afternoon, the rockets and the missiles continue to fly, we continue to hear explosions. >> i know. >> and they're pulling women and children from the rubble.

including ten members of one family. so i ask you, what is it that would give you this type of hope? >> well, there have been negotiations here, they've been widely reported in the press with the leader of egypt, mes mursi, and erdogan of turkey and other countries participating with others from the area in conflict, trying to work out a cease-fire. and i have no personal information because i wasn't in the room but i'm just saying, i understand the rumors are floating now here that there's reason for optimism that a cease-fire could be announced as early as this afternoon. >> that would be very, very good news as tens of thousands of israeli troops amass and are called up and ready to launch a ground offensive. >> it would be very good. and there have been casualties on both sides, and certainly, my heart goes out to those

innocents who were hurt. and as has been said by president obama, israel has a right to defend herself and hopefully this -- these rockets will stop, and a cease-fire will be negotiated. and what i would urge or hope is that a next step could be taken, which is egypt using its influence with hamas to get hamas to, without the precepts of the peace process, so that hopefully a two-state -- a negotiate for two states could go forward which i think is in the interest of, certainly u.s. policy, but it's strongly in the interests of the parties to the two states. >> representative harmon before i let you go, i must ask you, i've been reading your name a lot lately in the news, as you well know. your name has been floated as a potential replacement for david petraeus as cia director. i'm wondering if you're willing to go on the record here to say that you would take the job if you were offered it? >> i have a great job at the wilson center. i left congress after nine

terms, it's an enormous honor and sure it's flattering to be -- >> would you take the job >> -- to be considered. the cia is a wonderful agency. that's completely speculative. i serve on the what's called the external board there, as well as the advisory board to the director of national intelligence, the defense policy board and hillary clinton's foreign policy board and those are wonderful opportunities that fully engage me and i have the opportunity to be in egypt at a time of -- where great history is being made. so i -- i'll take the future when the future comes. >> i'm going to take that as a yes. former congresswoman jane harmon, director of the woodrow wilson center. i wish you the best of luck as you continue those negotiations in cairo. >> thank you. >> all right. the latest recount in florida thoughs congressman allen west trailing his democratic challenger patrick murphy by almost 2,000 votes. west trying to keep his seat representing florida's 18th congressional district.

unofficial numbers posted sunday evening on the florida sect's website give murphy 166,267 votes to 164,353 for west. 2016 a long way away. but florida senator marco rubio sure looks like a presidential candidate during a visit to iowa. rubio appeared saturday night at a big fund-raiser for iowa governor terry branstad. in his speech, rubio discussed the future of the republican party, addressed a host of issues, including tax reform, the national debt, energy and immigration policy. >> when we hit this time of year you say if you don't have it don't buy it. >> if you don't have the money, don't buy it. if you haven't invested in your kid's college, why are you buying a door bust e? >> flak friday almost here end of the week, biggest shopping day of the year. but if some walmart workers have their way it's going to be one of the messiest, too. we're going to tell you why. hey, look! a shooting star!

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25 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." minding your business, u.s. stock futures are higher. congressional leaders came out of their fiscal cliff meeting with president obama friday and they sounded encouraged that a deal could be reached. that optimism helping push markets up today. but remember the dow, the nasdaq, the s&p 500, they're all down about 5% since the election. because of concerns about that fiscal cliff. added pressure on energy prices

because of unrest in the middle east today. oil prices are higher because of the fighting between israel and gaza, and concerns that could disrupt -- disrupt oil supplies in the region if it expands or continues. light sweet crude oil is up about 1%. and walmart, on the offensive against a workers walkout planned for black friday. walmart filed a complaint with the national labor relations board. it says the union backed our walmart group didn't file the right paperwork to picket during past demonstrations. our walmart says it has 1,000 protests planned across the country later this week. walmart plans to open its doors for black friday at 8:00 p.m. on thanksgiving night! which is what we call mission creep. that makes it black thursday. which brings me to the one thing you need to know about your money today. black friday shoppers, are you saving for your kids' college? it's a better present than any door buster. don't buy all the retail hype. people say oh, bah, humbug. it's that time of the year when

i start saying i don't get the retail hype. >> christine, come on. >> sure if you put money aside, go for it. >> thank you. still ahead a story that gives new meaning to all in the family. you won't believe what police in texas say this man and his two children pulled off. not once, but seven times. #jc@+u i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th, five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor

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hunter's life is one of nearly a million changed by donations from people like you. send your love to the rescue. donate to shriners hospitals for children today. day six of the strike. still no letup in the violence. israel broadens its assault. gaza refusing to give in. >> that time of year again, right? holiday traffic jam. will you be one of the 24 million americans in the air this week? how the airlines are getting ready for the masses. and punken chunk in.

just how far will they go? >> good morning, everyone. welcome back to "early start" i'm alina cho. >> i'm christine romans. the bombs keep dropping and the blood keeps spilling in gaza, an israeli missile destroying a two-story home in gaza city, killing 11 people including four children. conflict between israel and hamas intensifying overnight. representatives of israel and hamas in egypt right now for cease-fire talks. but they're not talking directly to each other. hamas offering up a demand in exchange for a truce, insisting israel end its military blockade of gaza if it wants the bombings to end. arwa damon live from gaza city this morning. what's the latest, arwa? >> well, those who were killed in yesterday's air strike that you mentioned just there were buried during midday prayers. and whilst that funeral was going on we saw three rockets being fired. our colleague ben wedeman who was at the funeral said he saw them from that location, as

well, as did the mourners, and when those rockets were being fired right afterwards everyone began chanting, revenge, revenge. shortly thereafter we heard a number of explosions and we did hear from residents in the area where the explosions occurred that they were believed to have taken place in the areas where the various rocket launching units were firing at israel but we have been hearing so far that no significant injuries have been brought into the main hospital. a lot seem to be these fields that are in between the very densely packed residential areas. you'll have small little pocket that is open leading off in narrow alleyways. it does seem that is what the israelis have been targeting. certainly intense situation for those living here as you can imagine. most people staying well indoors. and when we drive around the streets, you really get the sense that you are in a war zone, with most people not being out and about. the vast majority of shops are shut except that the residents here have not been able to flee. they're all trying to stay

safely indoors. but as is always the case in this conflict zone and in so many others, it is those that are trying to somehow protect themselves, the innocent civilians, caught in the kroz fire. >> arwa, do you know, are the rockets still falling from gaza into israel? >> the ones that we saw being fired, that was about an hour, hour and a half ago, so yes they most certainly are still being fired. hamas saying it will continue to do so until a cease-fire agreement is, in fact, reached. that is as we were mentioning earlier incredibly difficult given how hardened each side of this conflict is in its position and in its demands. at this point in time, most certainly is continuing from both sides, and residents here are incredibly anxious about the possibility of a ground invasion. >> all right. arwa damon, thank you. president obama praising myanmar for its political reforms and saying if they continue on that democratic path, america will be in its corner.

he's the first sitting u.s. president ever to visit the country. he also met with activist aung san suu kyi at the lakeside villa where for 15 years she was a political prisoner. the president just arrived in cambodia, which is the final stop on his tour of southeast asia. here at home more than 3,000 people rallying outside the white house in opposition to proposed keystone xl pipeline. the pipeline would help deliver oil from canada's tar sands all the way down to the gulf of mexico. last year the obama administration delayed the decision on the controversial project until after the election. a father and his two adult children are in custody accused in a strange of bank robberies. authorities say ronald scott catt and his son hayden robbed the banks while his daughter, 18-year-old abby, drove the get away car. the family is believed to be responsible for two bank heists in texas and five others in oregon. both tubes of new york's

hugh l. carey tunnel will reopen this morning. it got pounded by the storm surge caused by hurricane sandy. waltwater flooded out the tunnel, caused damage to its electrical and ventilation systems. offer an average workday in new york this tunnel cares about 50,000 cars. considering how much water was in there a couple weeks ago, a lot of brooklyn and manhattan residents are very happy that it's open this morning. >> i have to say you've got to give them credit, they cleaned out the subways pretty quickly. they were 90% back in a couple of days. >> yeah. >> those commuters must be frustrated but properly very happy that it's back open this morning. all right. meteorologist rob marciano joins us now with a look at the big storms lining up in the west coast. >> yeah, several of them, going to be several days, your old stomping grounds there, alina. look at the string of moisture coming in from the satellite imagery dropping down into northern california, as well. so the garden hose is out and it's coming down pretty good.

portland up i-5 across the river, vancouver up to seattle, this is heavy at time. snow levels will be rising over the next couple days. mostly going to be a flood event. flood watches for most of western oregon including parts of northern and eastern parts of washington. snow levels rising. rainier, some higher peaks will get some serious snow. but the winds also blowing. look at these recorded wind gusts. yaquina head, 98-mile-per-hour gust. that is hurricane strength you betcha. and this is the time of year where they get their windstorms and they're getting it pretty good. a three-day event expected there. mostly northern california through vancouver, b.c., so cal looks good. much of the inner mountain west looks good as well. a weak front through central parts of the u.s., kansas city through st. louis, pretty weak, but it will have some showers there and fog across the great lakes if you're travelling there. breezy across parts of the carolinas and a little bit of shower and thunderstorm complex

just offshore of south carolina. 56 degrees high temperature. chicago, 68 degrees and memphis, 49 degrees. not a bad-looking fall day in the big apple. >> hmm. >> that's great to hear. have you ever carved a pumpkin? >> who hasn't carved a pumpkin? >> have you ever chunked a pumpkin? >> i haven't but i do enjoy the video. >> roll it. >> that's right. check it out. that's right. these guys have chunked pumpkins and they are gathering from all over the world to see who can hurl those pumpkins the farthest. we have myth buster co-host kerry myers live after this quick break to tell us what this is all about. (splashing)...

(child screaming underwater)... (underwater noises).

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welcome back. it's thanksgiving and that can only mean one thing. pumpkin chukin. the annual competition where more than 100 engineering teams from around the world descend on a corn field in delaware to see whose contraption can propel a pumpkin the farthest. they juggle, too. for the fifth year science channel will be broadcasting the competition on thanksgiving night, and carrie byron the host of the special this thursday, 8:00 p.m. pacific. she is the co-host of discovery channel's "myth bustest" as well. good morning. great to see you. >> good morning. >> all right. so for those who are not familiar with pumpkin chunkin tell us what are the rules of the game? >> rules of the game. well, you need to throw a pumpkin as far as you can, with purely mechanical means. but when you give a challenge

like this to backyard engineers, and crazy guerrilla scientists, they're going to come up with some wild means of throwing a pumpkin. so we're talking about a battlefield that has air cannons, torsion machines, catapults, human powered machines, and they're chunking pumpkins, you know, over 4,000 feet. i think the record is over a mile and a half. >> wow. that's pretty incredible. we're looking at some of those contraptions right now. they look pretty expensive, and they look like they took some time to build. right? >> oh, this is not child's play. this is not just a hobby. this is a lifestyle. pumpkin chunkin people are so into it. they spend an entire year preparing, put a serious investment in. they really, really go for broke. >> how many people are involved in this competition on an annual basis? >> you know, there's definitely over 100 teams, and those -- >> oh, teams?

>> can consist of -- yeah, yeah, 100 teams. those teams can consist of, you know, just pits full of tons of people. but, you know, thousands of people actually come out to the event. it is, i think, the entire state of delaware is out in corn fields when pumpkin chunkin is going on. people come from all over the united states. there's a team from colorado spent a week just trying to get their machine out there. >> it's a several-day event, right? it took place earlier this month f >> usually they have three days, and three rounds, and each round there's a pumpkin thrown. but because hurricane sandy came through, and tore up the northeast, they only had two days for the entire event. so it was quite a fever pitch to get your pumpkins out. >> i'm glad they finally did it. one final question, i know you can't tell us who won, but tell, tell us, i know, do, do they win a cash prize? i know that a lot of this goes

to a good cause, as well, right? >> oh, there's so many charities that are supported by pumpkin chunkin, it's a huge event. most people are out there for the charity. it's quite amazing collaboration. >> all right. well kari byron you're the host of this special, 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific this thursday on the discovery channel. thank you. pumpkin chunkin! >> thanks for joining us. >> back now to our top story the middle east. it's been a bloody 24 hours in gaza city. 11 civilians killed by israeli air strikes. four of the dead are children. right now representatives of israel and hamas are in egypt for cease-fire talks but they're not speaking to each other. hamas demanding an end to israel's military blockade in gaza in order to stop the violence. president obama praising myanmar's rapid political reforms during his historic visit there. the president met with fellow nobel peace prize winner aung

san suu kyi who spent 15 years under house arrest in myanmar. he's the first sitting u.s. president to travel there and to cambodia, as well. the president just arrived there this morning. the final stop on his three-nation tour of southeast asia. and the american music award goes to -- justin bieber! >> the paper card is so 20th century, isn't it? don't stop believing. justin bieber sweeps the american music awards. including the biggest award of the night, artist of the year. his mom was there as his date. sweet. other big winners taylor swift, rihanna, carly rae gypson and mickny minaj. probably one of the oddest performances ever, i give you m.c. hammer gangnam style.

♪ m.c. hammer showing you that, indeed, parachute pants are timeless. m.c. hammer's biggest fan, john berman. >> i love that. >> actually they're hammer pants. >> that's you. >> that's me with my friend hammer at the democratic national convention this past year. >> oh, my gosh. >> that's hammer. he wears hammer pants, not parachute pants. there's a slight difference. that was two logistics on the airplane. the famous hammer. we got a big show coming up on "starting point." live to gaza right now. you've seen the pictures, anderson cooper startled as explosions going off all around him. we will talk live to anderson as the violence amps up. plus as the clock ticks toward that fiscal cliff mayors across the country are pleading for a deal. they say the impact will be huge on their cities if congress can't get their act together and compromise.

we're going to talk about it. mayor michael nutter of philadelphia and republican mayor scott smith from mesa, arizona. and, new numbers showing nearly 50 million people in the u.s. are living below the poverty line. you didn't hear much about it on the campaign trail. now a new plan to cut that number in half over the next decade. but los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa will join us for the details. that and much more on m.c. hammer on "starting point." >> thanks, john. are you going to be flying this holiday? we're all going to be working this holiday week. but if you are flying, step in line with 24 million other americans will be in the air with you. how are airlines preparing for the masses? we've got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look for you coming up next. my doctor told me calcium

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ten minutes before the top of the hour and nascar has crown aid new sprint cup champion. his name is bred keselowski. five-time champ jimmie johnson was keselowski's only competition for the title going into sunday's race at homestead, miami speedway when johnson experienced some sort of mechanical failure. the race for the chase was over. keselowski came in 15th, but that was enough to take home the championship for the blue deuce, the number two penske racing dodge. all right thanks giching coming up on thursday making it one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. excuse me. but what are the airlines doing to make sure the planes are ready to fly and help travelers on the jam packed flights reach their destinations on time? sandra endo has more from george bush intercontinental airport in houston. >> reporter: a lot is riding on people like michael baumgarten.

at more than 24 million travelers are expected to fly this thanksgiving week. he's a technician for united airlines. >> airplanes just pulled into the gate. >> reporter: we went behind the scenes at houston intercontinental airport to see what mechanics do before passengers board. >> you walk down, look at all -- >> what are you checking for here? >> anything at all broken, leaking, if there's something wrong, in this case, you'll know about it. >> reporter: technicians get at least half an hour to check every plane that lands. they inspect the entire plane to make sure everything is okay before the next flight. united is anticipating a peak load of more than 600 flights through houston the day before thanksgiving. and passengers want them running safely and on time. a lot of times as a passenger we hear, oh, your flight's not

ready because of a maintenance issue. what does that mean for us? >> if the airplane is not safe and legal, it can't go. >> reporter: the safety checks are inside and out. on united's new 787 dreamliner, technicians examine the electronics. >> we're just going to oversee problems we've had in the past, talking about things we've had happened. >> reporter: and every four years or so, every plane goes through a major safety overhaul. what are they working on here? >> this is a 757 that will completely open the airplane up, inspect everything, replace a lot of components. lubricate everything, put it back together. >> reporter: most mechanical problems are logged in flight so base crews know what's wrong before the plane even lands. but it's not always a quick fix. >> we do the best we can. they didn't build it in a day, we can't always fix it, you know, in just five minutes. but we always get it fixed.

>> and take a look at this line here at the nation's seventh busiest airport. we've seen a line like this since 4:00 this morning. if you look over here the ticket agents are hard at work. airlines have brought in extra staff to take care of the increased passenger load, and, unfortunately, travelers will have to go through this hassle all over again, because actually, the sunday after thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year. christine? >> oh, wow. pack your patience, everyone. no matter what they do on the airline end, sandra, bring your patience to the airport. >> glad we're working. we don't have to deal with that. >> no kidding. >> today's best advice after this quick break. are? yeah we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. and i relieve nasal congestion. overachiever. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't.

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welcome back, as always we end the show with today's best advice. >> we always ask our guests here to tell us the best advice they've ever received. today we hear from singer, actress and american idol winner jordin sparks. >> the best advice i've ever received is always -- always be aware of other people's time. being on time is kind of a rarity in my industry, but at the same time when people are, people take notice. and it's really important that you know that other people have things that they need to get done, and places they need to be, and things, too, then if you're on time, then you don't have to worry, either. always be on time and always respect those who came before you in whatever field you're going to. >> always be on time. it is 58:40 which means we're on time. >> we are on time. >> that's "early start" for us.

i'm christine romans in for john berman. >> good morning -- have a great morning. i'm alina cho. we throw it over to "starting point" where john berman and brooke baldwin are standing by. >> our "starting point" this morning, mayhem in the middle east. six days of fighting, dozens dead and no signs that either side is willing to back down. >> also, two media centers -- whoa! >> anderson cooper witnessing it firsthand. he will join us live from gaza. >> also this morning an historic trip. president obama, the first sitting president to visit myanmar and cambodia. but not everyone there is celebrating those visits. we're live this morning in myanmar. >> tensions in the mideast affecting your money here at home. could we see oil prices rise just in time for the holiday travel season? >> and bieber